Review: The Crown's Game

The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I finally finished this! I really feel like I spent a long time reading this, I was so slow in reading the book. There were actually days when I didn't read the book because I just couldn't get into it! From the moment when I learned both Vika and Nikolai want to be the Imperial Enchanter (and there is only to be one!) and that Nikolai and Pasha were bestfriends, I immediately thought Oh no. No, please don't be cliche. I felt like I know where things were going and I hoped that I was wrong. Yes, there were a few twists in the book but seriously, I didn't find it amazing or so entertaining or made the book seem good to me as a whole.

The Crown's Game has been said to be vicious (was that the word used? I totally forgot.) as enchanters have to fight off to death in order to become the Imperial Enchanter. Of course, poor Nessa (aka me) expected there will be a lot of fight scenes between the enchanters. Some bloody actions and fantastic magic whooshes and things beyond my imagination. But ha! Were the enchanters - Vika and Nikolai - 8 years old? I feel like what they did during their turns didn't do justice to how the Game was described. The Crown's Game might be pretty known because it was written in books, but it wasn't even done in public. Seriously what are we playing at? I might not have read a lot of fantasy books before but seriously, from what I imagined, a fight to death (of enchanters! people with magic!) did not involve making the streets look beautiful or making some magic dresses or something petty. If I, myself, possess magic of some sort, I would've laughed at these two. (I'm evil haha).

The romantic part of the book was not at all entertaining, or funny, or swoon worthy and it isn't even romantic! It was cheesy. Pasha, really. He acts like a prince in a Disney movie. Although yes, I love Disney princes but no Pasha just... don't. And it isn't Disney - it's a freaking alternate magical Russia thingy. I don't even know if there was a love triangle. Sure, both Pasha and Nikolai loved Vika but there wasn't even a chemistry (I didn't see it!), not the slightest bit! NO! And might I add: there was no instalove because it wasn't even love. It wasn't love, maybe they were just attracted. Ha, lemme change that. Attraction triangle.

Overall, I found the book boring and totally not exciting. I really hoped that the fight to death that happened was really a fight to death. The book already had fantasy elements! It could've been better. ALSO I didn't even get the ending but nevertheless, I am not really looking forward to the sequel. Brrrr!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
i'm gonna post my review once i remember which notebook i wrote my initial thoughts down hahahahah

View all my reviews

Review: Lucky Me

Lucky Me by Saba Kapur
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

the synopsis was interesting!!!! but i did not expect it to turn that way. i kind of bored me and made me doze off. putting it down was easy, picking the book was getting harder and harder. (view spoiler)[i hated gia because she continuously talks about her overpriced, i mean, expensive stuff (eg., shoes, bags, and clothes). and the idea of her having a hot(?) bodyguard got more and more annoying because of how she reacted. ugh. (hide spoiler)]

overall,


View all my reviews

Review: Extraordinary Means

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Prior to reading the book, my mind was set that tuberculosis (TB) had a cure. Just a continuous medication for 6 months, consistency then boom. Actually, I just asked my parents if that’s true then they said yes. Soooo, when I first picked up the book, I was kind of having second thoughts PLUS Robyn Schneider kind of disappointed me with The Beginning of Everything because it did not suit my taste. Thankfully, I did not have such bad experience with Extraordinary Means.

The book was divided into two different perspectives: Lane and Sadie. They both met at a summer camp when they were kids and met again at Latham House, which is basically a boarding school for teens with tuberculosis. Lane was this very school-nerd guy and Sadie was part of this group at school which normally just breaks the rules. At first, I found it insane that teens were being sent to Latham House. Teens with tuberculosis were being crowded there and being taught, like a school, like they never left. But of course they did.

The book was a quick read. It was easy to get onto the story because the characters weren’t really very suicidal and they were just like any other teenagers of any other teen related novels. What made me sad about the book is that the people act like people with tuberculosis are monsters. It’s sad how people just view them like that, but maybe I am too. But they didn’t really choose their path and it wasn’t their fault.

The way the book was written made it easy to read the book and devour its words. I actually imagined myself as a part of the book. There were sad parts, yes (and it was so awkward because I was reading it at school and at a public transportation and that was when I read the sad parts and I had to hold some tears back). My favorite character may be Charlie, though he wasn’t really given much emphasis.

Overall, I liked the book and glad that it did not disappoint me – I had doubts whether to read it or not because I really did not like The Beginning of Everything but later on realized it was a different book and should give her a chance. Extraordinary Means made me relive my love for books with sad ending because they normally turn out better than those with happy endings. To me.

View all my reviews

Review: The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The people who call you names are just trying to make themselves feel better. They’ve fucked up before, too. You’re not the only one.

Well, that sucked? Prior to reading the book, I really had quite high hopes that it will turn out good along with the fact that it’s got a movie adaptation! However, it did not meet my expectations, which is sad. Plus, I came to a realization that WHAT A CRUEL TITLE IS THAT?

Being in high school doesn’t really suck even when you’re on the radar. Trust me. It’s just the way you manage yourself along with other people. Bianca Piper, the protagonist of the story, after meeting Wesley Rush (the love interest???) at a party at The Nest, was called the DUFF which stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend. First of all, how dare he call her that? Being fat and ugly already makes a person feel really bad but being designated, ugh. The fuck! And, Bianca was just equally annoying. She took the word too seriously. It’s pretty common that when you’re in high school, others call you names. It was pathetic she does not know how to care less.

I was also annoyed because most parts of the book, it seemed that Bianca was the one doing the moves. She was the first one to kiss Wesley, plus the one who started the S word. ALSO, what right does she have to have sex to escape? I know we have problems and have different ways of solving them but come on! That wasn’t nicely handled. There are so many options on how to deal with problems and SEX IS AN ADDITION TO HER PROBLEM. She had sex with Wesley again and again and had NEARLY lost her dear good friends. AND she got stuck in an even more terrible high school drama.

Now, Wesley labeled Bianca as the DUFF and called her Duffy when they talk to each other. Bianca just annoyed the hell out of me because GIRL WHY DID YOU ALLOW THAT SO-CALLED MANWHORE CALL YOU AS THE DUFF? Well, shit. I’m losing my temper here! At least Bianca had wits to know that love takes some time to be felt. And then the story turned like any other cliché stories. BOOM!

Overall, the book sucked to me. I don’t like it. At all. It buried something into my mind I wish I could dig out as soon as possible. I hated the book so much okay that’s it. Shouldn’t have read it though!!

View all my reviews

Review: Invisible for Young Women: How You Feel Is Not Who You Are

Invisible for Young Women: How You Feel Is Not Who You Are by Jennifer Rothschild
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Envy isn't really about her. It's actually about me. It reveals that I don't like myself very much.

Not really long ago, I was so bored I ended up making a video to entertain myself. In the video, I started with “Hello, I am Vanessa. Just so you know, I am a nobody.” Coincidentally, I read Invisible for Young Women because I needed to read a book before things start to get real serious (aka studying for finals). I chose the book because it was the shortest one on the list.

View all my reviews

Review: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am Celaena Sardothien, Adarlan’s Assassin. If these men knew who I was, they’d stop laughing. I am Celaena Sardothien. I am going to win. I will not be afraid.

Wow. That was just… wow. Throne of Glass was an easy and enjoyable read. It was also fast-paced and really set my hype while reading. I enjoyed the book a lot, even though it set some disgusting images in my mind. Some parts of the book remind me of Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games and Divergent but it was appealing in its very own way.

Celaena Sardothien was a really likeable character. I was only a few chapters in the book but I already liked her. I love her character – strong, sassy, and fierce. Her career choice, being an assassin, was cool. Young as she may be but she had done things people thought she was older. I was sort of amazed when she survived a year of slavery and everyone just testified it was kind of a miracle. She knows what she wants: freedom. But when it came to guys, it was kind of hard to understand her. Dorian, the Crown Prince and Chaol, the Captain of the Guard showed interest to her. It actually annoyed me the way Dorian treats Celaena. WHY ARE PRINCES ALWAYS LIKE THAT TO THE FEMALE LEADS? WHY? Sometimes I wish they were kind of arrogant. Haha.

Throne of Glass, being the first book of the series, crafted a world for the reader’s imagination. Their world was kind of weird and at the same time, somewhere I would want to be. It has a hint of magic, although the King of Adarlan has forbidden it. I like the part where Celaena and I try to unravel the mystery: who murders the other champions? It was really interesting and from one chapter to another, there are so much to look forward to.

Overall, I liked the book so much and… what? It took a decade? Awesome.

View all my reviews

Review: Cress

Cress by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Friends. She squinted at the chip as she held it up, wondering if that was the right word. It felt like having friends, especially after they’d survived the mission together. But then, she didn’t have anything to compare this mission to.

MINDBLOWN. Well, that was nicely handled. Cress, indeed, is a page-turner. It was hard to put down and I just wanted to go on reading for as long as I could. It was action-packed – my heart went thump, thump from the moment they tried to rescue Cress up until Cinder said her last line in the book. It was really enjoyable and made me look forward the next chapters. And even the next book!

Once again, I was introduced to a new character – Cress. She was locked up in a satellite for seven years and was an excellent hacker. Being locked in a prison she practically designed, she was not able to cut off her hair so it grew longer. (Yep, RAPUNZEL!)

I found it amazing how Marissa Meyer were able to connect every characters, based off on different characters from the fairytales we surely grew up with. Apparently, I was sad because I liked Scarlet but in this book, she was given only little focus. What made me happy was I proved to myself that Wolf loved Scarlet, although they met in a really short period of time. She was his alpha, the brightest star.

Kai and Cinder, likewise, never failed to amuse me and make me swoon. While the pair seemed unlikely – an emperor and a fugitive cyborg – I love these two together and if I could, I would help them overthrow Levana and even be the priest on their wedding.

Thorne and Cress were my favorite pair. When they were separated from the group after the failed attempt to rescue Cress, I love how these two survived together. Thorne, in my opinion, should actually be the one being credited. He was funny, although he was blind then. I love everything about him, though he did some things. But, when asked if Thorne or Kai, the answer I guess would be clear.

Overall, I loved Cress just as much as I loved Scarlet and Cinder. I love the action in its story and not only that, but I was able to feel the characters’ emotions as well. I could sympathize for the characters and I even teared up a little bit. Maybe enough to fill a teacup. BUT THAT ENDING THOUGH. IT SHOULDN’T HAVE ENDED LIKE THAT WHY, WHY, WHY? I wish I had the last book in my hands but noooooooooooooo. I am so curious to know how will it end, and what will happen to the characters!

I am so glad I came across this book. It’s worth my time and I am very much happy I spent the day reading it, though the ending. Looking forward to the last book!


View all my reviews